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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
Being governed by the same underlying physics, that is, the nuclear force, atomic nuclei and neutron stars are correlated to each other even though their size may differ by 18 orders of magnitude. By building models to accurately describe their properties, we attempt to improve our understanding of the nuclear force. To achieve this goal, a calibration scheme is established which includes model optimization and a follow-up covariance analysis. This calibration scheme is powerful enough to model the uncertain physics of interest. By comparing predictions from models with different assumption of the uncertain physics to both theoretical and experimental constraints, it is found that certain assumption is favored which in turn pins down important properties of the nuclear force. The covariance analysis plays a critical role throughout this work, enabling us to estimate theoretical uncertainties in model predictions and to reveal correlations between parameters and/or observables. We also address questions regarding the information content of a new observable. Such studies, numerical or analytic, can help enhance the interaction between theory and experiment, and thus, guide future efforts.
Host: William S. Hlavacek (T-6)